The Salesby5 Blog

Yesterday I visited a restaurant at 11am with my family, and we were the first to enter. Seven employees were at a table having a meeting and quickly dispersed. A few minutes later I realized that no one had said “hello”, “welcome”, or even made eye contact with me.  Ten minutes later, I attempted to talk to a few of them, and again, no feeling from them that we should talk. Fifteen minutes into my visit, I emailed the owner of the restaurant and told him about my visit. This was not one of the SalesBy5 secret shops we do on all of our clients and their competitors.  It was not for hire, but because I care. Today, employees and less than great customer service cannot hide. The owner of this business is warm and lights up every room he enters! He wants the same out of his team.  Our smart phones are putting pressure on the slackers! For you business owners that care: put your email on the door or on your menus. My prediction is that in a few years, a guy or girl at table 22 will complain to a manager in seconds, and perhaps to corporate.  It is time to get your acts together, as technology is not on the un-sellers side!

photo by Sean Dreilinger

1.  What is it like to try to do business with you? Are you making it hard or easy? Are you inviting or un-inviting? It does not matter who you are in your organization- the CEO or the call center rookie. Call your business or have a friend call, while you are on speaker phone.  Have them ask for you.  Have them ask what the company does.

2.  Do you feel welcome, wanted, invited and/or appreciated?

3.  If you bought the product or service and called back for help, do you feel they would help you?

4.  Connect to the service department. Do you get a human?  Schedule a service call to your home address and see how long it takes to make the appointment or get service.

5.  Connect to the customer service department. See if you get a human and then describe your problem. What happens?

6.  If you left a message, how fast does your call get returned and how appreciated do you feel?

Recently, I started calling the service department of auto dealerships and other higher priced items, to shop in advance and see what happens when a sales person promises me a benefit. I want to know if it is true. This is my reason to believe they can deliver. I called three car dealerships when I experienced a problem with their largest competitor and acted like it was their car. They were ready to take care of me in moments. My dealership was not, as it was governed by rules that were perfectly suited for 1971 communist Russia. Many companies will promise you a rose garden, but today, it is easier than ever to smell them before you buy them.

Check out Seth Godin’s riff about voice mail.

  photo by lawgeek - flickr